Japan released figures showing that Vietnamese are the largest foreign labor force, with more than half a million people.
As of the end of October 2023, Japan recorded 2,048,675 foreign workers nationwide, an increase of nearly 226,000 people compared to the same period last year. This is the first time the number of foreign workers in Japan has exceeded the two million mark, according to data released by the country's Ministry of Labor on January 26.
Among them, Vietnamese workers are the largest force, with 518,346 people, accounting for 25.3%. Next are Chinese with 397,918 workers, accounting for 19.4% and Filipinos with 226,846 workers, accounting for 11.1%.
Vietnamese workers learn Japanese in Hanoi . Photo: Kyodo
The number of foreign workers in Japan has been steadily increasing since 2013, as the country struggles with a labor shortage. The increase in 2023 is expected to be 12.4%, significantly higher than the 5.5% rate of the previous year.
Amid a surge in foreign workers, the Japanese government is planning to submit a bill to establish a new technical intern trainee program, amid concerns that the current program focuses solely on human resource “development.” This is a tool that could be exploited to turn trainees into manual workers to meet labor needs in a country with severe labor shortages due to an aging population.
Duc Trung (According to Japan Times )
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